Thursday, March 7, 2013

Beans are meat for the vegan or vegetarian. Now, with Tim
Ferriss coming on the scene with his 4 Hour Body and 4 Hour Chef books, beans
are becoming a much more important part of a lot of meat eater’s diet, as well.
The big attraction is the amount of protein you can get from these legumes.
However, beans are packed with many essential nutrients.(note: the below links to Amazon are affiliate links. By clicking on those links, I stand to profit - thanks in advance if you do! I have all of Tim's books and they simply provide an awesome new look on life in the 21st century.)

The most economic and health conscious way to consume beans
is by buying dried beans in bulk and going through the lengthy preparation
process. In the real world, canned beans are available on the shelves of every
grocery store. The only downfall to this is the amount of sodium that comes
along with the preservation process.

All numbers used in this article are provided by Unico, a
food packaging company based in the Greater Toronto Area. I have no affiliation
with the company. Unico simply is one of the most popular and readily available
brands of canned beans in Canada and their website provides a wealth of
information. All serving sizes are 125 grams. A typically can of beans is 540
grams. Therefore, there are close to 4.5 servings in a can.

The beans we looked at were Black, Broad, Garbonzo (Chick
Peas), Faba, Lentils, Lima, Lupini, Red Kidney, Romano and White Kidney.
Lupini, or Yellow Lupin, is not that readily available and is in world of its
own. Anyone with food allergy issues may want to avoid Lupini all together.

The great thing is that none of these beans contain and cholesterol.
With the exception of Lupini, which contains 6g of fat per serving, all had no
more than 2g of fat per serving. Broad beans contained no fat while Lentils and
Lima beans contained just 0.5 grams per serving. All are also very low in
sugar. However, Garbonzo beans are high in carbohydrates at 29g per serving,
compared to Lima beans at the low end of the scale at just 13g.

With Tim Ferriss and vegans worldwide, the big number is the
grams of protein. Lupini contains a staggering 22g of protein per serving. The
next highest is Faba beans at 11g and the lowest is Lima beans at just 3g per
serving. All others range from 7 to 10g. This is significant in maintaining a
healthy body.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein is stated
at 56 grams for the average male adult and 46 grams for the average female
adult. The ‘average’ is 154 lbs. for a male and 110 lbs. for a female. It is
suggested by some that these numbers are way low and reflect a sedentary
lifestyle. For active adults, the number might need to be almost doubled.

As you can see, eating just one can of beans can nearly meet
the RDA for protein. As a vegan, I often suffered from headaches. Since moving
to a bean based diet in December of 2012, the headaches have all but
disappeared. Also, I simply feel better and have more energy late into the day.

Of course, the other question that is asked of all that don’t
consume meat or dairy: “How do you possibly get enough calcium?” We all know
that calcium shows its face in some amount in nearly all vegetables. However,
beans are an especially great source. If you can stomach Lupini, you’ll get 15%
of your RDA in just one serving. All other beans mentioned here will provide
2-6% of your RDA per serving.

Besides the major benefits, all the beans are high in fibre
and low in sugar. All are a great source of iron. Lima beans are the only ones
with a significant amount of Vitamin C at 6% of the RDA per serving. Garbonzos
are the only ones that will provide Vitamin A at 2% of the RDA.

How do you down 1-2 cans of beans per day?! Surprisingly,
after several months, I’m still good with a can of beans (drained and rinsed)
cooked in a pot along with a can of diced tomatoes, a bit of EVO, some oregano,
paprika and cayenne. Sometimes, I’ll split into two meals. Sometimes, it goes
down in one shot. I mix the type of beans up but prefer Romano or Kidney (white or red, doesn't matter).

Just a quick summary of the benefits I’ve found:

·Headaches gone

·Weight stabalized

·Injury free – the muscles seem to better take
abuse (something very handy when playing hockey and snowshoeing in the
wilderness)